Fred Kwashie Awuttey, a Tax and Management Adviser, has revealed six legal ways Ghanaians can reduce the risk of exposure to the controversial Electonic Transactions Ley alias E-levy tax.
This comes after the E-levy was approved by Parliament after several oppositions from the Minority and most Ghanaians The E-levy will be implemented coming May 1, 22 by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Ghanaians have become anxious about how the new tax will impact their finances.
The following are the six ways:
1. Chase the chequebook
Mr Awuttey noted that since clearing cheques by electronic means is exempted from the tax, it provides an alternative to reduce the risk of exposure.
2. Do ‘physical’ cash-in and cash-out
Mr Awuttey noted that the tax does not cover cash-out and cash-in. That is an option open. But, with this, individuals must be guided by the dangers of carrying cash along.
3. Make payments through merchant shortcode (for shops and supermarkets)
The levy does not cover payments made through merchant shortcodes that are registered with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for purposes of paying income taxes and VAT.
“To minimise the exposure, when you go to a shop, you have to find out whether the vendor is registered with Ghana Revenue Authority before you start to initiate the transaction.”
4. Update bank, momo account details with the Ghana Card
Noting that E-Levy does not cover transfers between two or more accounts held by one person with a unique identity number with Ghana Card, he advised that Ghanaians should ensure they update all their accounts with the card.
“In this case, to minimise the impact, individuals must update their bank accounts, mobile money accounts with the Ghana Card so that such individuals will not be affected by the tax when they transfer money from one account, say Vodafone, to another account say, MTN momo.”
5. Regulate the volume of electronic payments at the bank
For the purpose of making payment by the electronic platform through the bank, an individual may have to regulate the payment.
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It is expected that the Minister of Finance determines the minimum threshold on the bank payment so that concerns on payment are addressed.
6. Pay your taxes through the Ghana.gov platform
To reduce the risk of exposure to E-Levy while paying other taxes, do it through the Ghana.gov platform. The tax expert explains that that platform is exempt from charging the E-Levy.
